Saturday, January 2, 2010

Dollars and Cents

Yesterday I blogged about a UK proposition that would pressure (I mean, encourage) young boys to write. Today's headline tells me that boys are better savers than girls.

What do you think? It's an intriguing topic, partly because of the possible stereotypical implications: Boys are good with money. Girls go out and spend it.

I think there's more to the story. The gender gap still exists, with females, on average, earning less than males. So perhaps the female teens simply earned less money? Perhaps it would be more useful to look at savings as a percentage of income.

Men are much more likely to report feeling confident about money. Women are more likely to feel anxiety and apprehension.

As parents of boys, we owe it to our sons to teach them the basics of personal finance. But it's also our job to let them know that females are equally as capable of learning about money. The boys we raise today are the husbands, fathers and co-workers of tomorrow.